The invention is directed to a suture material package for surgical suture material wherein the suture material is contained in a folding card in such a manner that suture material can be pulled out therefrom in an easy and controlled fashion.
In a known suture material package disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,969, the folding card comprises three elongate folding panels arranged laterally adjacent each other and being separated from each other by longitudinal folding lines. These folding panels are folded on top of each other and in their folded condition are inserted into a flat envelope which is closed by welding along its edges. For the withdrawal of thread material, the envelope is torn open starting at a longitudinal edge of the envelope, whereby also a part of the uppermost panel of the folding card is torn off and a length of the thread material is exposed, with the end of the thread being retained on a flap of an underlying panel. For withdrawing a length of thread, the end of the thread or the needle attached thereto has to be pulled out of the fixing flap. This is a bothersome procedure, particularly when the withdrawal of thread is performed with a hand clad in a surgical glove.
European Patent Application 0 458 432 A1 discloses a suture material package wherein the folding card comprises four panels arranged adjacent each other in a row, i.e. a needle holding panel, a cover panel, a winding panel and a fold-over panel to be folded into a position above the winding panel. The end of the thread connected to the needle is inserted into fixing flaps of the needle holding panel and projects in arcuate shape beyond the needle holding panel. Also in this known suture material package, it is required that, after opening an envelope surrounding the folded folding card, the end of the thread or the needle is manually gripped and freed from the fixing flaps before the thread can be pulled out of the folding card.
The co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/897,276 describes a suture material package wherein a folding card has a base panel, a winding panel, a fold-over panel and a thread holding panel for holding the end of a thread. The thread holding panel has the same size as the base panel and, upon opening of the package, a part of the cover plate is torn off so that a part of the thread holding panel holding a portion of the thread is exposed. However, the end of the exposed thread is still captured under a flap of the thread holding panel and must be freed before the thread can be drawn off from the folding card.
It is an object of the invention to provide a suture material package wherein, on the one hand, the end of the thread is reliably held in place when the thread is inserted during the winding process and the thread coil is fixed in position after the winding process, and, on the other hand, withdrawal of thread by gripping the end of the thread is facilitated.